1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the general field of casino gaming and, more particularly, is a variation of the game of blackjack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Blackjack is a game played at a semicircular table with seven player stations equally spaced on the table's top near an arcuate edge thereof. There is an imprint of a circle at each player station. A player places cheques representative of a wager within the circle. A dealer is positioned near a straight edge of the table. The dealer faces the player.
Blackjack is played with one or more standard decks of cards. An ace dealt to a player has a point value of either "1" or "11" at the election of the player; a face card (jack, queen or king) has a point value of "10" and each of the remaining cards ("2" through "10") have a point value equal to what is alternatively referred to as a "pip" value or a number value of the card. Point values of cards held by the player are added together to obtain a player total point value. A dealer total point value is obtained in a similar manner.
After the cheques are placed within the imprinted circle, the cards are shuffled and the player and the dealer are each dealt a hand comprised of two cards. The cards of the player's hand are dealt face-up. A first card of the dealer's hand is dealt face-down. A second one of the dealer's hand is dealt face-up.
Whenever the dealer face-up card is either an ace or has a point value of "10", the dealer ascertains the point value of the face-down card without revealing it to the player unless the dealer total point value is "21". When the two cards of the dealer hand cause the dealer total point value to be "21", the dealer is said to have blackjack whereupon the dealer turns the face-down card face up. Similarly, when the two cards of the player hand causes the player total point value to be "21", the player is said to have blackjack.
When the dealer has blackjack, the dealer wins the wager with two exceptions. A first exception occurs when the dealer's face up card is an ace and the player posts cheques representative of what is known as an insurance bet which is typically equal to one half of the wager. When the dealer does not have blackjack, the player loses the insurance bet. When the dealer has blackjack, the cheques representative of the wager and the insurance bet are returned to the player.
The second exception occurs when the player has blackjack whereupon the cheques representative of the wager are returned to the player. The second exception is an example of when the player hand and the dealer hand have the same total point value and is referred to as a push.
When the player has blackjack and the dealer does not, the player wins the wager. When neither the dealer nor the player have blackjack, the player has four options.
A first option is to have the player hand augmented by an additional card (referred to as a "hit") . The player may have successive hits until the player total point value exceeds "21". When the total point value of a hand exceeds "21" it is said to bust. The player loses the wager when the player hand busts. Therefore, busting is a sudden, catastrophic termination of play for the player.
A second option is not to have the player hand augmented by the additional card (referred to as a "stand"). The player may stand at any time that the player hand has not busted.
A third option, referred to as doubling down, permits the player to double the wager and receive one additional card.
A fourth option is available when the player hand is comprised of two cards that are a pair, such as a pair of queens, for example. The player may split the pair into first and second player hands. An additional card is dealt to the first player hand and to the second player hand, each of which are played as described hereinbefore.
The decision to hit or stand is made with an objective of causing the player total point value to be closer to "21" than the dealer total point value without busting. It should be understood that central factors in making the decision are the dealer's faceup card and the player total point value.
After the player stands, the dealer's face-down card is turned face-up, whereby both cards of the dealer hand are face-up. When the dealer total point value is less than "17" the dealer must hit until the dealer total point value is at least "17". When a hit causes the dealer hand to bust and the player hand has not busted, the player wins the wager.
It should be understood that when an exemplary hand includes an ace and a six, for example, it is referred to as a soft "17" because the ace causes the exemplary hand to have alternative point values of "7" and "17". Usually, the dealer hand cannot be hit when it is the soft "17".
When neither the player hand nor the dealer hand busts and the dealer total point value exceeds the player total point value, the dealer wins and vice versa. When there is a push, there is no winner; the cheques representative of the wager are returned to the player.
A desirable aspect of blackjack is its simplicity. However, is blackjack can be made more interesting by providing play that requires an inclusion of jokers in the decks of cards and by providing play instead of the bust when the player point value exceeds "21". The inclusion of the jokers and providing play when the player point value exceeds "21" need not be a compromise of simplicity.